


Unbroken

by idrilhadhafang



Series: The Broken Edge [27]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Backstory, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Snoke, Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Physical hurt/comfort, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Snoke/OC if you squint, Speeches, and it had to be me, snoke backstory, someone had to explain that stupid outfit Snoke's wearing in TLJ, speech therapy, the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 09:09:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11917689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Aldric becomes Snoke.





	Unbroken

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Archaic Medical Treatment
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

 

After the battle with Yoda, Aldric has already been recovering. In terms of his injuries, they are numerous, though the emotional injuries are far worse. The knowledge that Yoda, his kin, did this to him is enough to make Aldric's head spin with both fury and a sort of grief -- a grief akin to if he had actually killed Yoda himself.

Hira, the medic, is looking over him, and for that, Aldric is grateful. When she takes out the bacta, Aldric can't say he's pleased.

"Aldric," she says to him, "This is going to be painful. I wish I could say that this is an easy process, but the fact that you survived at all is miraculous. We had to stitch up the wound in your head from where you were cut, and your jaw...if Yoda's strike had been any luckier, you would have ended up without a jaw entirely."

"Luckier." If Aldric had the strength, he would laugh. "You realize that's scarcely a high bar?"

"I do." Hira steps away from him, nothing but sympathy in her eyes. "He was a fool," she says.

"Yoda?" Even that doesn't describe the way that even that name is enough to inspire white hot rage in Aldric, and how he wishes he could rewind the fight to give Yoda the punishment he deserves. A man close to him as kin, and he has done this to him, without remorse, without hesitation.

"None other," she says. "The Jedi weren't there for us when we needed them. But you were."

"I should have been there sooner."

"But when you were, you were invaluable. No, are." Hira looks down at him. "Thank you."

"It was what any decent being would have done, under the circumstances." The Jedi are not decent beings. Aldric knows that now. And that knowledge is a painful, bitter lesson, as bitter as his scars.

***

They don't have prosthetics or mechanical parts; even when Aldric brings up the possibility, they seem confused.

"You never heard of Darth Malak?" Aldric says. "After his master sliced off his jaw, he had to wear a durasteel piece as a replacement."

Hira shakes her head. "Do you desire one?"

"It was a matter of curiosity." Aldric still has to speak carefully. Yoda's sadistically inflicted wounds have impacted Aldric's ability to speak. Speaking above a low rumble only aggravates the wound, and even the promise of shouting is all but impossible. Some words are difficult to pronounce, and Aldric stumbles on them.

He supposes that it's only fitting that Yoda impaired his ability to speak. The moment he spoke out about the abuses on Milara and the bombings, he was made a target. He was scorned. All for trying to do what was right. All for trying to protect his homeplanet.

Fortunately, a speech therapist is helping him speak again, but the fact that Yoda did this to him is enough to fill Aldric with enough fury for it to burn like fire.

There will always be scars. The fact they are there is less important than how they got there.

"Aldric, if I may..." Hira says.

"Speak."

"There were scars on your knuckles. Who gave them to you?"

"A worker at the orphanage did."

Hira stares at him in astonishment. "They burned you?"

"Yes. It was...punishment."

Hira shakes her head again. "They shouldn't have done this to you.”

"No." Aldric can remember fear and white hot pain. Indeed, that would sum up most of his childhood years after his parents' deaths. "They shouldn't have."

***

As part of sacrificing his identity for something more important, Aldric -- now Snoke -- casts away his Jedi robes. He has to admit that he feels ridiculously overdressed in these gold robes, but it's not as if he has any other choice. He feels more like Sarlis than he does a noble heir to the title of Snoke, though, and he remembers what Yoda said during their fight.

_Where once left you did to preserve life, now seek you do to destroy it._

Among other things he wears is a black kyber crystal ring. He doesn't know why he wears it. Does he want to have at least some reminder of where he came from? He doesn't want any association with Aldric the street urchin running from an abusive orphanage, or Aldric the Jedi. Nobody will remember either one, and that's how it should be.

Hira looks at him with a certain sort of admiration. "You look the part," she says.

"If the part is circus act, then that is true." Snoke puts a finger to his chin. "Rather bizarre circus, of course."

Hira doesn't laugh. "You look like a king that others would follow into battle," she says. "You truly do. Even if it meant their deaths."

"I want no one else to die for me," Snoke says. "But to rule Milara and give her the stability needed, I would do what I could."

"Do you love Milara?"

"My memories of her are not pleasant, but I would give my life to defend her glory and wisdom."

When Snoke steps out in front of the crowd, they stare at him, clearly in shock at what's happened to him. Snoke a pick up their thoughts; they're disturbed, and running through them like a river. Who could have done this to him? Was it that Jedi who tracked him down?

Snoke raises his hand, and the crowd falls silent.

"Beings of Milara, my kin...today we have been defeated, but far from unbroken. You are no doubt wondering what happened to me. It was a Jedi who did such a wicked deed -- the Jedi was frightened of what we had accomplished and sought to destroy me."

The crowd roars in fury. Snoke continues. "The Jedi have failed their people time and time again. The position of a Jedi is akin to a promise that you make -- a promise to defend the galaxy from all evils. But time and time again they have broken that promise. The Mandalorian Wars are but one example, what happened to us another. While Venkar was bombing you, the Jedi did nothing. While the orphanage visited countless abuses upon Milara's little ones, the Jedi did nothing -- save for one, and no matter how she begged and pleaded and advocated, the Jedi refused to hear her. The Republic, meanwhile, fights over power like tu'kata over meat. They too betrayed their oaths by doing nothing. I am ashamed to say that I too was effectively bound from doing anything to help -- I can only hope that I can help you now."

The crowd is quiet as Snoke continues. "The truth is, we have done beautifully. We have defeated Venkar and his men, and freed Milara from their influence. We have protected it from raiders, mercenaries, anyone who dares to harm us. We have dealt with the abusers and tormentors of our children. We have made tremendous amounts of progress, and it is no wonder the Jedi were afraid of us. They wished to keep control of us. Subjugated to the will of our tormentors while they debated in their ivory towers behind closed doors."

The crowd roars in fury again.

"We will have to go into hiding for the time being," Snoke says. "The Jedi will come after us, and if they find us, they will deal us a cruel fate disguised as kindness. We must rebuild. And when the time is right, we will meet them in battle. For Milara, for her glory, for her freedom, for the galaxy as a whole. Freedom should be a universal galactic right for all planets, not just a select few. Safety should not just be given to the privileged, the elite, but for all planets, all cities. We are defeated, but only temporarily, because despite what the Jedi tried to do, our will is not broken, our resolve is not crushed. The Jedi wanted us broken and submissive, but we are not giving them what they want. We shall not be silenced!"

The crowd roars this time in applause.

"We will rebuild, and when we return, we will be not simply an army, but an empire. An Order. The Order of Ren, seeking to bring balance to Milara as it should have been. I, meanwhile, have my own duties to fulfill." Snoke's voice goes softer. "It is with great humility and duty that I accept the title of Snoke. The title of Snoke is also like a promise you make, a promise to protect Milara as one of our greatest heroes has done. Throughout the years, many noble Milarans have taken the title of Snoke, all with the purpose of protecting the planet we love. I can only hope that I will live up to these legacies. And when we return, we shall send a message from across one galaxy to the next: we will not be broken. And we will not be silenced."

The crowd takes up the chant ("We will not be broken") and Snoke allows himself a smile, if a weak one thanks to the wound Yoda gave him. He has been betrayed, but he has not been broken. Even when they have to leave for the Unknown Regions, where shadows no doubt lurk, they will not be broken. Even when they have to hide, they will not be broken. He will carry the anger and pain of Yoda's betrayal and he will become strong, strong as the Dark Side teachings said he would be.

Yoda regarded him as a monster no doubt for following the Dark Side teachings, but for Milara, it was the right thing to do. For Milara, Snoke would do anything. In his mind, he can picture Milara going from a desolate planet to a lush empire with him on the throne, powerful, wise, strong, making sure that no one would have to endure what he and other Milaran children endured.

The others pack up and head towards their ships after a while, and Hira takes him aside. "So you are no longer Aldric, then?"

"Aldric was a necessary sacrifice. I am Snoke."

"Snoke," she says. "You will do beautifully. I know it. And you are right, we are unbroken. No matter how much Yoda tried, he did not kill or subdue you."

"No. He did not." And that...perhaps that is a victory in the midst of a terrible defeat.

They board the ships, and even as they head out, Snoke can see a future. Milara's future, bright and resplendent, and expanding more by the day, no longer crushed by fear. Powerful, restored to her former glory.

And in the ship, Snoke smiles to himself, thinking of what could be.

For his future empire, he would do anything.

 

 


End file.
